Import the Python packages you will need:
import os
from pathlib import PathBoth of these come pre-packaged with Python so you won’t need to install anything.
Next, create a whole bunch of toy folders and files that we can use for this tutorial:
# Create directories
Path('Folder 1', 'Folder 1.1').mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
Path('Folder 1', 'Folder 1.2').mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
Path('Folder 2', 'Folder 2.1').mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
Path('Folder 2', 'Folder 2.2').mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
Path('Folder 3', 'Folder 3.1').mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
Path('Folder 3', 'Folder 3.2').mkdir(parents=True, exist_ok=True)
# Create files
paths = [
Path('Example File 1.txt'),
Path('Folder 1', 'Example File 1.1.txt'),
Path('Folder 1', 'Folder 1.1', 'Example File 1.1.1.txt'),
Path('Folder 1', 'Folder 1.1', 'Example File 1.1.2.txt'),
Path('Folder 2', 'Example File 2.1.txt'),
Path('Folder 2', 'Folder 2.2', 'Example File 2.2.1.txt'),
Path('Folder 2', 'Folder 2.2', 'Example File 2.2.2.txt'),
Path('Folder 3', 'Example File 3.1.txt'),
]
for path in paths:
# Open file in 'write' mode, erasing content if the file exists
f = open(path, 'w')
# Write to a file
f.write('Hi, mom')
# Close the file
f.close()This is pretty straightforward: use os.walk() to ‘walk’ through the folder tree:
# Print folders in a Markdown list style
for dirpath, dirnames, filenames in os.walk('.'):
dirnames.sort()
idx = dirpath.rfind('/') + 1
if dirpath != '.':
print((dirpath.count('/') - 1) * ' ', '- ', dirpath[idx:], sep='')## - Folder 1
## - Folder 1.1
## - Folder 1.2
## - Folder 2
## - Folder 2.1
## - Folder 2.2
## - Folder 3
## - Folder 3.1
## - Folder 3.2This also uses os.walk() but needs to determine what Unicode box-drawing character(s) each item in the tree needs to have next to it:
# Print the top 2 levels of folders in a filesystem as a tree
positions_from_end = []
for dirpath, dirnames, filenames in os.walk('.'):
dirnames.sort()
filenames.sort()
level = dirpath.count('/')
if level <= 2:
parent_dir = dirpath[:dirpath.rfind('/')]
folder = dirpath.split('/')[-1]
# Find position of the folder in its folder
if dirpath != '.':
dirs_parent = [
f.name for f in os.scandir(parent_dir) if f.is_dir()
]
dirs_parent.sort()
pos_in_dir = dirs_parent.index(dirpath.split('/')[-1])
pos_from_end = len(dirs_parent) - pos_in_dir - 1
else:
pos_from_end = -1
# Augment the list of the parent folders' positions in their
# directories
try:
positions_from_end[level] = pos_from_end
positions_from_end = positions_from_end[:level + 1]
except IndexError:
positions_from_end.append(pos_from_end)
pipes = positions_from_end[1:]
for i, v in enumerate(pipes):
print(' ', end='')
# If parent folder is not last in dir, set the pipe symbol to │
if v != 0 and i != len(pipes) - 1:
print('│', end=' ')
# If parent folder is last in dir, set the pipe symbol to a space
elif v == 0 and i != len(pipes) - 1:
print(' ', end=' ')
# If folder is not last in dir, set the pipe symbol to ├
elif v != 0 and i == len(pipes) - 1:
print('├', end=' ')
# If folder is last in dir, set the pipe symbol to └
else:
print('└', end=' ')
# Finally, print the folder's name
if dirpath == '.':
directory = os.getcwd().split('/')[-1]
print(directory)
else:
print(folder)## files_and_folders
## ├ Folder 1
## │ ├ Folder 1.1
## │ └ Folder 1.2
## ├ Folder 2
## │ ├ Folder 2.1
## │ └ Folder 2.2
## └ Folder 3
## ├ Folder 3.1
## └ Folder 3.2Instead of using os.walk() this defines a new walk() function and calls it recursively:
def walk(dirpath):
ele = os.listdir(dirpath)
level = dirpath.count('/')
# Sort the elements in the dir
dirnames = [d for d in ele if os.path.isdir(os.path.join(dirpath, d))]
dirnames = sorted(dirnames)
filenames = [f for f in ele if os.path.isfile(os.path.join(dirpath, f))]
filenames = sorted(filenames)
ele = dirnames + filenames
for dirname in dirnames:
try:
terminal[level] = (dirname == ele[-1])
except IndexError:
terminal.append(dirname == ele[-1])
for i in terminal[:level]:
if i:
print(' ', end=' ')
else:
print('│ ', end=' ')
if terminal[level]:
print('└ ', end='')
else:
print('├ ', end='')
print(dirname)
new_dirpath = os.path.join(dirpath, dirname)
walk(new_dirpath)
for filename in filenames:
try:
terminal[level] = (filename == ele[-1])
except IndexError:
terminal.append(filename == ele[-1])
for i in terminal[:level]:
if i:
print(' ', end=' ')
else:
print('│ ', end=' ')
if terminal[level]:
print('└ ', end='')
else:
print('├ ', end='')
print(filename)
# Print the files and folders in a filesystem as a tree
terminal = [False]
root = '.'
print(Path(root).resolve().name)
walk(root)## files_and_folders
## ├ Folder 1
## │ ├ Folder 1.1
## │ │ ├ Example File 1.1.1.txt
## │ │ └ Example File 1.1.2.txt
## │ ├ Folder 1.2
## │ └ Example File 1.1.txt
## ├ Folder 2
## │ ├ Folder 2.1
## │ ├ Folder 2.2
## │ │ ├ Example File 2.2.1.txt
## │ │ └ Example File 2.2.2.txt
## │ └ Example File 2.1.txt
## ├ Folder 3
## │ ├ Folder 3.1
## │ ├ Folder 3.2
## │ └ Example File 3.1.txt
## └ Example File 1.txtFinally, we can add the option to set how many levels we want the tree to go:
def walk_levels(dirpath):
ele = os.listdir(dirpath)
level = dirpath.count('/')
# Sort the elements in the dir
dirnames = [d for d in ele if os.path.isdir(os.path.join(dirpath, d))]
dirnames = sorted(dirnames)
filenames = [f for f in ele if os.path.isfile(os.path.join(dirpath, f))]
filenames = sorted(filenames)
ele = dirnames + filenames
for dirname in dirnames:
try:
terminal[level] = (dirname == ele[-1])
except IndexError:
terminal.append(dirname == ele[-1])
if level < levels_to_print:
for i in terminal[:level]:
if i:
print(' ', end=' ')
else:
print('│ ', end=' ')
if terminal[level]:
print('└ ', end='')
else:
print('├ ', end='')
print(dirname)
new_dirpath = os.path.join(dirpath, dirname)
walk_levels(new_dirpath)
for filename in filenames:
try:
terminal[level] = (filename == ele[-1])
except IndexError:
terminal.append(filename == ele[-1])
if level < levels_to_print:
for i in terminal[:level]:
if i:
print(' ', end=' ')
else:
print('│ ', end=' ')
if terminal[level]:
print('└ ', end='')
else:
print('├ ', end='')
print(filename)
# Print the files and folders in the top 2 levels of a filesystem as a tree
terminal = [False]
levels_to_print = 2
root = '.'
print(Path(root).resolve().name)
walk_levels(root)## files_and_folders
## ├ Folder 1
## │ ├ Folder 1.1
## │ ├ Folder 1.2
## │ └ Example File 1.1.txt
## ├ Folder 2
## │ ├ Folder 2.1
## │ ├ Folder 2.2
## │ └ Example File 2.1.txt
## ├ Folder 3
## │ ├ Folder 3.1
## │ ├ Folder 3.2
## │ └ Example File 3.1.txt
## └ Example File 1.txtLet’s clean up after ourselves: delete the toy files that we created for this example script:
# Delete files
paths = [
Path('Example File 1.txt'),
Path('Folder 1', 'Example File 1.1.txt'),
Path('Folder 1', 'Folder 1.1', 'Example File 1.1.1.txt'),
Path('Folder 1', 'Folder 1.1', 'Example File 1.1.2.txt'),
Path('Folder 2', 'Example File 2.1.txt'),
Path('Folder 2', 'Folder 2.2', 'Example File 2.2.1.txt'),
Path('Folder 2', 'Folder 2.2', 'Example File 2.2.2.txt'),
Path('Folder 3', 'Example File 3.1.txt'),
]
for path in paths:
path.unlink()Once all the folders are empty we can delete them as well:
# Delete directories
Path('Folder 1', 'Folder 1.1').rmdir()
Path('Folder 1', 'Folder 1.2').rmdir()
Path('Folder 2', 'Folder 2.1').rmdir()
Path('Folder 2', 'Folder 2.2').rmdir()
Path('Folder 3', 'Folder 3.1').rmdir()
Path('Folder 3', 'Folder 3.2').rmdir()
Path('Folder 1').rmdir()
Path('Folder 2').rmdir()
Path('Folder 3').rmdir()